Funding for AEDs

[leesfd]

My department has been running first responders without AEDs for several years. The firefighters themselves are attempting to get an AED program started up. We're a full-time paid municipal department but unfortunately will have to figure out some ways to raise the money with minimal help from the town--does anyone know of any grant programs that could be made available to municipal departments-I've already come across some for volunteers--any ideas would be much appreciated-we're a town of 50+ thousand with a large elderly population so this is an important undertaking...

[Rescue2a]

I think finding any grant funding for an municipal fire department is going to be very hard if not impossible. All the grant programs I've seen are for non-profit organizations only.
There is so much supporting documentation on the effectiveness of defibrillation and AED's have really grabbed media attention. My suggestion is to approach your town or city council and present to them the facts on defibrillation, total# of arrest for a given year, response time stats. etc. in an attempt to make them give in. Defibrillation is now a standard of care for treatment of cardiac arrest. In fact the AHA states this: Anyone who has a professional responsibility to respond and treat a patient in cardiac arrest, should be equipped with an defibrillator and be trained to use it. Responding to a cardiac arrest without a defibrillator is hard to defend and could possibally result in litigation. I have a very informative document on early defibrillation that I would be more then happy to e-mail you. As another suggestion to help in obtaining funding, approach your local newspaper and have them do a story on your departments wishes to upgrade the current leel of care provided and that you are seeking donations. However if you are an all-paid, municipal department this may not be an option as people already pay enough in taxes for fire/EMS protection.

These are just some suggestions... Hope they will be helpful.

Derek, EMT
AED Program Coordinator


[This message has been edited by Rescue2a (edited September 30, 1999).]

[Aff]

So. St. Paul, MN. is a municipal department that has had good luck with fund raising. They have developed a good relationship with the city VFW to their mutual benefit. That may be an option for you to explore. Both the VFW and American Legion are well known for there community support. And as with most organizations, their population is only getting older and tend to be more receptive to these requests. Good Luck, Be Safe...
Mark

[chief4102]

leesfd;
Greetings, Ideas and info that Rescue2a and AFF have given you are right on the money. I would like to add that along with the VFW and Am. Legion, you might contact your local Lions(we were given a sizable gift from the Lions for our AED). Also, decide on the brand of AED that you want. Then see if that manufacutre will provide a tape and/or demo unit. Contact the Lions, Eagles, Elks, senior citizen groups in your area, make appointments to present SHORT informational programs at their meetings. Present the info that Rescue2a mentioned along with the demo tape and show the AED. A demonstration with an Anne might help too. This effort will probably convince the organizations to help with your fund raising. Don't forget that there may be some corporate and private grants available too. Good luck. AEDs DO work.

Be Safe

[Cap'n L]

Looks like you've received some good ideas, here's how we purchased ours. (We are a paid on call department)The first responders put up the first $500. Then we asked area businesses for donations. They were also given an information sheet on the AED and from the AHA on their importance. We also offered "SAFETY STREET" house number signs.They are sold by a company in Kalamazoo,Mi.for $20 of that for each sign sold the company sends $5 back to our department. These signs are made from the same reflective material as highway signs,a great benefit for us!We were able to raise the $3000 in less than 3 months.

[leesfd]

Thanks for the good ideas, everyone. Rescue2a, I'd appreciate you e-mailing me that information. We're ready to roll up our sleeves and go to work to get these things, as any of you who have ever waited 15-20 minutes for an ambulance to arrive on a call can imagine!!!!!

[This message has been edited by leesfd (edited October 03, 1999).]

[JawOLife]

Our department serves a smaller municipality where are run volume almost triples during the summer and autumn months. Our community, and county survive on the tourism industry. Once summer has begun.... we run. Fire and EMS. We serve an area where our winter population continues to grow twice over our summer population. All ages, shape and size, reside and vacation in our district. This does not just happen in our area, it is county wide. Our first responder group started with an old Marquette defib, which we purchased from the county many years ago. About two years ago, the county switched over as did we with the Lifepak 500's. Every community in the county as then followed except for one. In our district we tend to run a good amount with cardiac pts. Our community is small enought where we happen to know the locals with heart conditions and review, unfortunatly knowing we will be there someday in the future due to their health conditions. The difib we have, remains in our rig,, at the station, which is fairly centralized in town. But our district runs out of town to the furthest point of approx. seven miles. All members of our dept. (which 99% of them are at either First responder, EMT-B, or Paramedic level) live all over the community. But some are not in areas where we run consistantly. And quite a few of those runs require AED. In order to have the defib enroute when needed, it takes a bit of communication to ensure that at least two are headed to the station to pick the rig up. It was getting a bit overwhelming, so we decided to try to over come this situation. - Buy purchasing approx. 13 AED's. Enough to spread it around, for better AED response. - early AED is THE KEY - there is no other way around it. We all decided to try it the old fashioned way. It may seem a little corny. - But it has been working. We decided to put one gallon empty jars out. We made some labels on the cumputer, slapped them on - and put them all over the community..... in gas stations, restaraunts, shops, galleries, the drive in movie theatre... you name it... we put one there. Suprisingly enough, we have gotton quite a good response... for only four months. The town board has chipped in a little, and we have also recieved great donations from local banks, and the Lions club, and other residents, that are "well off". Sending a donation letter works rather well also, you dont spend that much, and get a really good turnout. We did that to purchase a six wheeler and had enough to have it outfitted to lock in two PTs on longboards, along with decals and lights ect. I guess the thinking here is, if we take care of them... they take care of us. Good Luck...

[FFLEEMS]

A couple of people already mentioned the Lions club, they are a good place. In my area they helped my VFD buy a Hurst tool and another district buy a rescue tool. Give them a try.
Good Luck.

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